Start of Roberts Stadium demolition planned for September

EVANSVILLE - The next steps toward demolishing Roberts Stadium will occur quickly over the next several weeks.

An auction of the facility's assets, such as its basketball floor, stage, concession equipment and heat and air equipment could take place in early August.

Meanwhile, city officials and contractor Three I Engineering will be working on bid specifications for the demolition.

"We hope to see demolition start by the end of September at the latest," City-County Building Authority Director David Rector said after Monday's called meeting of the Parks Board.

William Wilson Auction & Realty is to receive 10 percent of the auction's proceeds. Additional proceeds will go back to the Parks Department to offset some of the demolition cost.

Another contractor, DLZ Indiana, will be on site "to ensure the actual demolition process is per Three I's specifications," Rector said. "Not only that, but we'll have a big hole to fill in, and it will be an engineered fill. We're not just going to dump into the hole. It's going to be razed and left so that in the future something could be built in that area."

DLZ Indiana will have an hourly rate not to exceed $90,000, and the contract with Three I Engineering is for $60,000.

The Parks Board on Monday unanimously approved those two contracts, plus the auction agreement with Wilson.

Although Monday's Parks Board meeting was called with a specific agenda, members still agreed to hear public comment. Audience members Alan Brill, Roger Madden and Connie Whitman aired 11th-hour pleas to not tear down Roberts.

"We've made a decision, and we've got a plan to process, and that's where we stand," said Jay Ritter, the board's chairman.

Brill, who spoke at the June 20 Parks Board meeting when Roberts fate was sealed, ripped the city's task force process which led to Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's recommendation to have the arena razed and transformed into a park property.

Brill used the words "sham" and "fraud" to describe the task force. "I have a real problem with the integrity of the process ... you all ought to be ashamed."

Ken Quakkelaar, a member of the Roberts task force, asked to respond to Brill and called Brill's comments "wrong, wrong, wrong."